TOH has showed you how to make a toy chest with your kids before, but if you don't feel like cutting the wood yourself, opt for a kit like the one for this beautiful cherry chest. The kit comes with pre-cut pieces and all the hardware you need. Like many toy chests out there, the closed lid can also function as a bench seat, and the hinges are designed to prevent little fingers from getting caught. This model is available in three different finishes.

1. In this post, you kindly remind us not to make it too deep or worry too much about the height. I presume you still believe a bench cannot be too long or too heavy? I’m with you — just asking if that’s actually still your opinion, since the bench above appears to be yet another six footer. (If longer is better, why don’t you build an 8 or 10′ for your home shop?) TYIA – remember, I’ve bought all my lumber to start my new bench, but I haven’t milled anything yet, so you’re really helping in an immediate way here!
I’ve seen antique cabinetmakers’ benches that are sixteen and seventeen feet long, more than three feet wide, and supported by a dozen drawers and doors—and that weigh as much as a felled oak tree. In contrast, jewelers’ cabinets seem to be on a dollhouse scale, with tiny tools to match. For most of us, however, space limitations preclude the biggest, and the smallest are just not big enough.
We have 4 newly expanded Classrooms, 3 state of the art labs with over $275,000 of new machinery, and $600,000 spent on new exhaust and compressed air systems. We have 4 new CNC production machines, a Haas VF-3 CNC Router and a NEWCNC 4×8 multi head machine and 2 Laguna IQ Routers. Even our shop stools (with cushioned backs) are brand new. We have new course offerings such as our Computer Design Sketchup Class and 8 new Certificate Programs you can choose from.
With the top laying on the floor, bottom side up, the next step is to flip the base upside down, and attach it to the top. I followed Asa Christiana's design, in using s-clips. When I stopped by my local Woodcraft, though, they only had two packages of ten, so I didn't use as many as I would have, otherwise. For the top I put four on each side and two on each end. For the shelf I put three on each side and two on each end. If it turns out that I need more, I can always add more.
I had a similar experience with running electrical power to a shed. It turned out that I could build a 12x12 shed without a building permit as long as I did not run utilities, but getting a permit opened a whole new set of requirements that forbid me from having a shed at all. And when the nosey old woman next to me kept calling the building inspector on me, it was suggested that I could run an extension cord out to the shed anytime I wanted as long as it wasn’t fastened in a permanent manner.

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You're not the first person to say this! I'm half inclined to use the Lowes shed as a starting point for my own design. But I do think I'd feel better if I could work as an "aprentice" next to an "old master". Someone at work is going to put me in touch with a guy who builds sheds for a living, and apparently he's competitive with the prices @ Lowes and HD. The Lowes shed comes with a "Handman Package" that I don't want but would end up paying for, anyway. The "workbenches" were laughably flimsy.
Flip the base upright, put the MDF on top of it, then use a straightedge to draw two straight lines joining the outside edges of the legs and extending the width of the MDF. I used the countertop as the straightedge. We cut it with our cutting guide, which is based on the factory edge of a sheet of 1/4" plywood, so it should be straight enough. Use a carpenter's square to transfer these lines onto the ends of the MDF.
The decision to be made with respect to the end vise is whether the support plate should be mounted to on the inside or on the outside of the stretcher. Mounting the plate on the inside of the stretcher reduces the reach of the vise - it can't open as far, because the support plate is back from the edge by a couple of inches. But mounting the plate on the outside of the stretcher means that we need to add some support structure for the inner jaw of the vise, which the legs would have provided if we'd mounted the plate on the inside.
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For one, the bench itself is a good size. While its width as a tad short at just over 1 ½’, the length is a great 5’ long. Even better, this bench is made out of birch wood. Birchwood is similar to beech in that it is strong but soft enough to prevent inadvertent dulling of your tools. However, birch has a bit of an advantage over beech in that it is not a porous which makes staining on the Windsor Design a more worry-free affair.
Those bums even have a stipulation that you can't connect any utilities to a shed. My plan is to adhere to the letter of the law if not the spirit. I plan to run a buried 20 amp power line out to the shed (this will be done professionally and properly according to whatever is required by the law), but it will require a manual connection to a junction box on the outside of my house to complete the circuit. That way, I can argue that the electrical connection is only temporary and is little more than a safe and buried version of an extension cord.